Bridget of Sweden

“ He rested when the deity was associated to the humanity. Blessed, therefore, art thou O most blessed Virgin, in whom the mighty God became a little child; the ancient Lord became a puny infant; the everlasting God and invisible Creator became a visible creature. Therefore, because thou art most compassionate and most powerful, O Lady, I beg thee to look on me and take pity on me. For thou art the mother of Solomon; not of him who was David’s son, but of him who is the father of David, and the Lord of Solomon, who built that wonderful temple, which truly prefigured thee. ”

“ When the Passion of my Son drew nigh, his eyes were filled with tears, and his body with sweat, through fear of the Passion, and he was soon torn from my sight; nor did I see him more, till he was brought out to be scourged. ”

“ Woman, behold thy son I beseech thee, merciful Jesus, by the sword of grief which then pierced thy soul, to have compassion on me in all my tribulations and afflictions, bodily and spiritual, and give me comfort in time of tribulation and at the hour of my death. ”

“ Had they divine charity, they would at least think in mind, what I did for them, how great was my labor in preaching, my pain in my Passion, my charity in death, because I preferred death to abandoning them. But their faith is weak, tottering, as it were, to fall; because they believe, when the assault of temptation is absent, — they distrust, when any thing contrary comes upon them. Their hope is vain; they hope that sin will be forgiven without justice and truth of judgment. They trust to obtain the kingdom of heaven gratis; they desire to obtain mercy untempered by justice. ”

“ By this precious death, I beseech thee, O King of saints, comfort me to resist the devil, the world, flesh, and blood, that dead to the world, I may live to thee, and in the last hour of my departure receive thou my exiled, wandering spirit returning to thee. ”

“ O Jesus Christ, eternal sweetness of them that hope in thee, joy exceeding all joy and all desire, salvation, and love of sinners, who hast declared it to be thy delight to be with the children of men, made man for man in the end of time; remember all thy premeditation and interior grief, which thou didst endure in thy human body, at the approach of the time of thy most saving Passion, preordained in thy divine heart. ”

“ THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PASSION.
The consideration of the Passion of my Son ought to be frequently in man’s thoughts; for let him consider how the Son of God, and the Son of the Virgin, who is one God with the Father and Holy Ghost, suffered; how he was led captive, and buffeted and spit upon; how he was scourged to the very inmost, so that the flesh was torn away by the lash; how with all his nerves distended and pierced, he stood dolorous on the cross; how crying out on the cross, he gave up the ghost. If he frequently fans the spark, then will he grow warm. ”

“ Why art thou contracted by sadness ? For it is the will of my Father, that I suffer death; nay, my will with the Father. What I have of the Father cannot suffer; but the flesh which I took of thee shall suffer, that the flesh of others may be redeemed, and their spirits saved.” He was so obedient, that when Joseph by chance said: Do this or that, he immediately did it, because he so concealed the power of his divinity, that it could not be discerned except by me, and sometimes by Joseph, who both often saw an admirable light poured around him, and heard angelic voices singing over him. ”

“ Eternal honor and glory be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who, when it pleased God to take thee from the exile of this world, and to honor thy soul eternally in his kingdom, vouchsafed to announce it to thee by his angel, and who wished thy venerable body, when dead, to be interred by the Apostles, with all reverence, in the sepulchre. ”

“ Exult, O mother of God, glorious Lady Virgin Mary, that thou didst deserve to see thy soul quickened after death, assumed with thy soul with angelic honors to heaven, and didst see thy glorious Son, God with humanity, and with exulting joy behold him to be the most just judge of all men, and the rewarder of good works. ”

“ O Jesus, fountain of inexhaustible mercy, who from intense feeling didst exclaim on the cross, “I thirst,” thirsting for the salvation of the human race; inflame, we beseech thee, the desires of our hearts to every perfect work, and entirely cool and extinguish in us the thirst of carnal concupiscence and the heat of worldly delight. ”

“ Thou art like pointing out suddenly to a friend grieving for it, a lost jewel, whereby his pain is alleviated, his joy increased, his whole mind rekindled with joy. So thou, most sweet mother, didst show to the world its God, whom men had lost, and didst bear him in time who was begotten before time, at whose birth earthly and heavenly things rejoiced. ”

“ My heart was pierced with as many lances as there were veins from which his precious blood gushed; for the veins of his hands and feet were pierced, and the pain of his lacerated nerves came inconsolably to his heart, and from his heart to the nerves again, and as his heart was most excellent and strong, as being formed of the best substance, therefore life and death contended, and thus life was bitterly prolonged in pain. But as death approached, when his heart was breaking with intolerable pain, then his limbs quivered, and his head, which had sunk on his shoulders, was slightly raised. ”

“ But when I had consented to the annunciation of God, Joseph, seeing my womb increase by the operation of the Holy Ghost, feared vehemently; not suspecting any thing amiss in me, but remembering the sayings of the prophets, foretelling that the Son of God should be born of a virgin, deeming himself unworthy to serve such a mother, until the angel in a dream ordered him not to fear, but to minister unto me in charity.
Of worldly things Joseph and I reserved naught to ourselves, except the necessaries of life for the honor of God, distributing the rest for the love of God. ”

“ Blessed be thou, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst behold thy Son preaching, working miracles, and choosing his Apostles, who, enlightened by his example, miracles, and doctrine, were made witnesses of the truth, announcing to all nations that thy Jesus was truly the Son of God, that it was he who had accomplished in himself the oracles of the prophets, when he had patiently endured a most atrocious death for the human race. ”

“ Sixthly, I suffered from the tribulations of the Apostles and friends of God, ever fearing and grieving: fearing that they might yield to temptations and tribulations; grieving because my Son’s words were everywhere contradicted. But though the grace of God always persevered with me, and my will always conformed to the will of God, yet my grief was constantly mingled with consolation, till ‘I was assumed, body and soul, to my Son in heaven. Let not, then, this grief leave thy heart, for without tribulation few would reach heaven. ”

“ Those who lived with me, when I gave up the ghost, knew well, from the unusual light, that divine things then took place in me. After this, the friends of my Son, divinely sent, interred my body in the valley of Josaphat; countless angels, like specks in sunlight, attending, but malignant spirits not daring to approach. For fifteen days my body lay buried in the earth; then, with a multitude of angels, it was assumed into heaven.
After my Son ascended to heaven, I lived in the world fifteen years, — the time from my Son’s ascension to my death. And when dead, I lay in the sepulchre three days ”

“ If I blush for my own sloth, yet I rejoice, that thou who didst once die for our salvation, will die no more. For thou art truly he that was before the ages. Thou art he that has power of life and death. Thou alone art good and just. Thou alone art almighty and fearful. ”

“ And as it was manifest to all the court of heaven that no one, of angels or of men, loved God with as much charity as thou, therefore it was just and worthy that God himself should honorably place thee, soul and body, on the highest seat of glory. ”

“ Finally, my Father wishing to show the way by which heaven should be opened and excluded man enter in, out of love delivered me lip to the Passion, that by accomplishing it, my body might be glorified. For in justice, my humanity could not enter glory without passion, although I might have done so by the power of my divinity. ”

“ For the acute pain of thy wounds keenly penetrated thy happy soul, and cruelly pierced thy most sacred heart, till thy heart breaking, thou didst happily give up the ghost, and bowing down thy head, didst humbly commend thyself into the hands of God, thy Father, and then thy dead body remained all cold. ”

“ Whatever we had over our daily sustenance we gave to the poor, content with what we had. Joseph so served me, that no scurrilous, murmuring, or angry word was heard from him, for he was most patient in poverty, solicitous in labor when it was necessary, most mild to those who reproached, most obedient in my service, a most prompt defender against those who gainsayed my virginity, a most faithful witness of the wonders of God. ”

“ For I was like a woman in childbirth, all whose limbs after delivery are tremulous, who, though she can scarcely breathe for pain, yet rejoices inwardly as much as she can, because she knows that her child is born never to return to the misery from which he came. ”

“ The guardians sleep; those who pass delight in vanity and novelties; therefore, I rise and will not be silent. I will take away the voice of praise, and I will let my vineyard to others, who will bear fruit in season. Yet, according to the common proverb, friends are found among enemies. Therefore, will I send to my friends, words sweeter than dates, more delicious than honey, more precious than gold. Who receive and keep them, shall have that treasure which is happily forever, and faileth not, but increases in life everlasting. ”

“ Infinite glory be to thee, my Lady Virgin Mary, who didst humbly vow thy virginity to God, and, therefore, didst not care who espoused thee, because thou didst know, that he to whom thou didst first pledge thy faith, was more powerful and better than all. ”

“ To save man, it was right and just, that one should come who might redeem him, and be possessed of perfect obedience and charity; and in whom those who wish might show charity, and those who wished, malice. But no angel could be sent to redeem man, because I, God, gave not my glory to another, nor was a man found who could appease me for himself, still less for others. ”

“ Then his lovely And beautiful eyes took the hue of death; his mouth opened and appeared full of blood; his countenance pallid and sunken, livid and blood-stained; his body also was all livid and pallid, and very languid from the constant stream of flowing blood. The skin also, and virginal flesh of that most holy body, was so delicate and tender, that a livid welt appeared from the slightest blow. Sometimes he endeavored to stretch himself upon the cross, from the excessive bitterness of the intense and acute pain that he endured ”

“ Honor be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, who through the fear of thy passion and death, didst send forth blood from thy body, and nevertheless didst perfect our redemption as thou didst wish to do, and thus didst more manifestly show the charity which thou didst bear the human race. ”

“ My Son suffered pain in all his members, and even in his heart, which, nevertheless, being divine is immortal; his soul, also, which was immortal, suffered because it left the body. The assembled angels also seemed to be, as it were, disturbed, when they saw God in humanity suffer on earth. But how could the angels, who are immortal, be troubled? ”

“ Blessed be thou, my Lord Jesus Christ, who didst most patiently submit to hear, with thy blessed ears, insults and lies vomited against thee, and the voices of the people asking that a guilty robber should be absolved, and thou, innocent, condemned. ”

“ But the friends of God, who were in long expectation, said by divine inspiration: “ Why grieve we more? We should rather rejoice, for the light is born that is to dispel our darkness, and our desire shall be accomplished.” ”

“ When I was thus troubled in heart alone by myself, and committed all my hope to God, at once it came into my mind to think of God’s great power, how the angels and all things created serve him, and what his glory, which is ineffable and interminable. ”

“ O Lord, holy Father, who didst preserve intact in the tomb, the body which thou didst receive from the Virgin Mary for thy Son, and didst raise it incorrupt, preserve, we beseech thee, our bodies clean and immaculate in thy most holy service, and direct our way in this time, that when the great and terrible day of judgment comes, they may be raised to life among thy saints, and our souls eternally rejoice with thee, and deserve to be associated with thy elect. ”

“ When her Son beheld her and his friends weeping, he commended her in a mournful voice to John, and you might discern by his gesture and voice, that from compassion for his mother, his heart was pierced by the most keen dart of immense sorrow. ”

“ God wished to do in his work something singular and hidden from the world, as he did in the dry rod blooming. But know that my conception was not known to all, because God wished that as the natural law and the voluntary election of good and bad preceded the written law, and the written law followed, restraining all inordinate notions, so it pleased God, that his Mends should piously doubt of my conception, and that each should show his zeal till the truth became clear in its preordained time. ”

“ Much doth the world resemble a desert, with wild beasts, fruitless trees, and unclean waters; because man, like a wild beast, was eager to pour out his neighbor’s blood, unfruitful in works of justice, and unclean by incontinence and cupidity. In this wilderness, then, men sought the turbid well, — that is, the love of the world and its honor, which is high in pride, turbid in the care and solicitude of the flesh, — and by the seven mortal sins, had, as it were, entrance by seven ways. ”

“ Benediction and glory be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, who didst wonderfully fast for forty days in the desert, and didst permit thyself to be tempted by thy enemy the devil, whom thou didst drive off by a single word, when so it pleased thee. ”

“ Whoever wishes to found or begin a new way, must necessarily, as the founder or beginner of the new way, precede others. Hence to the ancient people was given a certain carnal way, circumcision, in sign of future obedience and purgation; which in faithful and law-keeping persons, before I, the Son of God, the promised truth, came, operated a certain effect of future grace and promise; and when the truth came, as the law was only a shadow, it was decreed in eternity that the ancient way should depart, being now ineffectual. ”

“ Saying this, the angel disappeared, and I prepared for my departure, going, as was my wont, to all the spots where my Son had suffered; and when one day my mind was absorbed in admiring contemplation of divine charity, my soul was filled therein with such exultation, that it could not contain itself, and in that very consideration, my soul was loosed from the body. ”